Subscribe to Common Dreams News Updates
Progressive Community
The press releases posted here have been submitted by
America's Progressive Community
For further information or to comment on this press release, please contact the organization directly.
Most Popular This Week
Today's Top News
|
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE |
CONTACT: ACLU Rachel Myers, National ACLU, (212) 549-2689 or 2666; media@aclu.org |
ACLU Calls For Independent Investigation Into Guantánamo Death
NEW YORK - June 3 - The
American Civil Liberties Union [late Tuesday] called for a full and transparent
investigation into the death of a Yemeni national held at Guantánamo
Bay. Military officials have described the death as an “apparent
suicide.”
The following can be attributed to Ben Wizner, staff attorney with the ACLU National Security Project:
"Tragic deaths like this one have become all too common in a system that locks up detainees indefinitely without charge or trial. There must be an immediate, independent and transparent investigation into the circumstances surrounding this apparent suicide and the conditions of confinement at Guantánamo.
“There is no room for a system of indefinite detention without charge or trial under our Constitution. Detainees against whom there is legitimate evidence should be tried in our federal courts – not in the reconstituted military commissions now being proposed. Those against whom there is no legitimate evidence must not be given a de-facto life sentence by being locked up forever.”
In January, the ACLU and other leading human rights groups sent a letter to President Obama asking him to grant them full access to the Guantánamo detention center so that they can review the conditions of confinement and make recommendations for revising U.S. detention policies.
The letter to President Obama is available online at: www.aclu.org/safefree/
The following can be attributed to Ben Wizner, staff attorney with the ACLU National Security Project:
"Tragic deaths like this one have become all too common in a system that locks up detainees indefinitely without charge or trial. There must be an immediate, independent and transparent investigation into the circumstances surrounding this apparent suicide and the conditions of confinement at Guantánamo.
“There is no room for a system of indefinite detention without charge or trial under our Constitution. Detainees against whom there is legitimate evidence should be tried in our federal courts – not in the reconstituted military commissions now being proposed. Those against whom there is no legitimate evidence must not be given a de-facto life sentence by being locked up forever.”
In January, the ACLU and other leading human rights groups sent a letter to President Obama asking him to grant them full access to the Guantánamo detention center so that they can review the conditions of confinement and make recommendations for revising U.S. detention policies.
The letter to President Obama is available online at: www.aclu.org/safefree/
###